Port Mann Bridge toll evaders get warning to pay up

Port Mann Bridge users who haven’t paid their tolls will soon be unable to renew their car insurance or driver’s licence.

The Transportation Investment Corp. that oversees the bridge has sent out warning letters to 20,000 vehicle owners whose TReO tolling accounts are more than 90 days overdue and owe at least $25.

If they don’t pay in full by Oct. 16, ICBC will refuse renewals.

Spokesman Greg Johnson said the total arrears for unpaid tolls on the Port Mann is now $1.5 million.

“That’s a fairly small percentage,” he said, but was unable to say how much non-payment was anticipated.

“The vast majority of drivers do pay their tolls.”

The Port Mann took in $15 million in net revenue in its first four months of operations.

Johnson said that was in line with projections and would have been higher had several hundred thousand free trips not been handed out as early sign-up incentives.

More than 600,000 users are registered with the TReO electronic tolling system and more than 1.7 million different vehicles have used the bridge since it opened.

About 80 per cent of the drivers who owe significant amounts are unregistered – they don’t have an electronic decal on their windshield – and their licence plates are instead photographed. A $2.30 processing fee is added to each of those tolls that’s not paid within a week and must be billed by mail.

Johnson noted drivers who refuse to pay their Golden Ears Bridge tolls also get the same refuse-to-issue designation with ICBC